NEW DELHI--In a rare confession of inadequacy, India's science minister, Kapil Sibal, told Parliament last week that India competes poorly with developed nations in science. He blamed India's "comparatively low" investment in R&D and a shortage of scientists. "India is lagging behind," he said. But India's government isn't ready to put its money where Sibal's mouth is: The next day, the finance minister submitted to Parliament an interim budget requesting $2.3 billion for civilian R&D in 2009, essentially a flat budget.